Do you think the regulatory environment in residential lending is tough to navigate? Just think about who is going to regulate flying cars? Dust off the Jetson’s tapes: There is a litany of legal and regulatory questions posed by these machines. Who can operate one? How many passengers are allowed inside? Can flying cars fly over roads? Do they have to? What kinds of safety measures must be included, and critically, can the vehicles be manufactured for commercial use? Are they allowed in the Taco Bell drive-thru? Regulators & regulation: The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which represents state banking regulators, is suing the OCC to stop it from issuing specialty banking licenses to financial technology firms.

Brokers should know that Parkside Lending announced its launch of Freddie Mac’s Home Possible Mortgages that offer low down payment options and flexible sources of funds for low- to moderate-income borrowers. With the release of Home Possible and Home Possible Advantage, Parkside now offers a full suite of affordable agency loan products. Home Possible product highlights include up to 97% LTV, no income limits for properties located in underserved areas, boarder income may be eligible qualifying income and homeownership education requirements only apply if all borrowers are first time home buyers. Please contact your Parkside Account Executive or sales@parksidelending.com for more details so we can bring the power of caring to your deserving borrowers who can benefit from this program.

LoanCraft is offering quick webinars to show how it helps with self-employed borrowers. LoanCraft’s Tax Return Analysis report is returned in four hours or less. Simply upload the PDFs and they do the rest. A lot of lenders are using the report to save their underwriters time and to improve consistency, and loan officers like it so much they are often paying for it themselves because it gives them immediate visibility about whether a self-employed customer will qualify. Contact Ron George or go to LoanCraft’s website.

Jobs

Congratulations to Matt Kovach who has joined NRL Mortgage as Director of Strategic Initiatives. Matt brings over 20 years of experience to the company and will work directly with ownership in growing the company. NRL is looking for Branch Managers and Loan Officers who want to join a fast-growing company that is focused on providing the best possible experience not only for the borrower, but for all our team members. To learn about opportunities, please contact NRL President Ron Zach.

Due to its growing retail sales force, California’s Argus Lending is expanding its operations group. Argus is searching for a Senior Processor with a minimum 7-years’ experience in processing, conventional, FHA and VA loans in a mortgage banking platform, be team oriented, and have a background in managing & training other processors. And an experienced Lock Desk person to price & lock loans, work with LOs with scenarios, and with investors in establishing pricing. “I’m very excited to see our growth and the benefits that we will be able to provide to everyone working towards building a winning team. At Argus, we understand that successful companies are not built from the top down, but from the bottom up,” said VP of Sales Bob Nutcher. Resumes can be sent to Bob Nutcher.

Every heard of Home Capital Group? Me neither. But the Canadian subprime mortgage lender’s stock is down over 60% after warning about Q1 results.

Upcoming events and schoolin’ & learnin’

You’re invited: “From Loan Officer to Rainmaker: Breakthrough Strategies to Take Production to Record Heights” on May 11 at 2PM ET. In this free webinar from XINNIX, VP of Mortgage Financial Services John Hudson outlines the tactics and strategies he uses that took a three-person team to 90 applications in 5 weeks! Join John and XINNIX CEO Casey Cunningham as they teach you the defining factors that will empower your sales team to reach their fullest potential and the vital role you play in their success. Get ready to see immediate success in bigger and better ways than your team ever thought possible! Click here to register now!

If you’re in the Carolinas May 9-11, Essent is offering a series of meetings in Columbia, Charlotte, and Durham about Fannie Mae’s HomeReady program. “Learn how to turn more creditworthy low-to-moderate-income borrowers into homeowners now with Fannie Mae’s HomeReady program! In this 90-minute seminar, William Diouf of Fannie Mae will walk you through how the program works and the benefits to borrowers & lenders, income, LTV/property type and down payment eligibility & pricing, and the homeownership education requirement. Register here.

MGIC is offering up its slate of May training events, including topics on reviewing appraisals, tax return analysis, and understanding condo appraisals.

Do you want the latest on Mortgage Loan Originator compensation? Kris D. Kully, a partner with Mayer Brown in Washington, DC, will discuss the latest questions and case studies to will help you stay on top of compensation issues in this May 12th live webinar.

Register now for the MMLA’s May 16th Best Practices Seminar to hear what is coming next from the CFPB. The speaker, R. Andrew Arculin, served as senior counsel in the CFPB’s Office of Regulations. In this position, Mr. Arculin was responsible for the development and implementation of consumer financial services regulations under RESPA, TILA, ECOA, and other federal statutes.

The American Mortgage Conference will be held May 17-19 at the Raleigh Marriott City Center. The conference brings together leading experts in the financial services industry, mortgage practitioners of every kind, policy makers and investors to discuss important issues in the mortgage field and to analyze what progress is being made in Washington. Featured topics include updates from respected mortgage industry leaders on the housing market, regulatory and legislative developments in Washington D.C, residential mortgage lending trends, eClosings and the coming digital revolution mortgage servicing, title insurance, and new home construction lending. This conference features national level speakers including FHFA Director Mel Watt, Mortgage Bankers Association CEO David Stevens, myself, and Congressman Robert Pittenger, just to name a few. Click here to view the agenda and register!

Fannie has started a series of articles/blogs on loan quality this year as part of its continuing industry leadership role on this important risk management principle. Here is a link to the first article which will be publishing on both FM.com and LinkedIn page on Fannie’s 2017 edition of its Industry QC best practice manual called “Beyond the Guide.” Watch for another post promoting Fannie’s one-of-a-kind QC boot camps next week.

There will be a May 16 web seminar hosted by National Mortgage News focusing on Generational Lending strategies: a win-win for consumers and lenders. “With new homebuyers representing some 30% of all home purchases, offering first-time homebuyer programs, such as FHA loans, is business as usual for lenders. But what about consumers at the other end of the homeownership cycle? A growing number of lenders are enhancing their portfolio of mortgage products with flexible payment, FHA-insured home-equity programs designed specifically for senior consumers. Attendees to this session will learn why this ‘generational lending’ model works for this valuable consumer and for a growing number of lenders – more than 50% of the industry’s top 50 lenders – who are embracing this crucial FHA loan.”

Looking ahead, save the date for California MBA’s 22nd Annual Western States Loan Servicing & Technology Conference August 6-8 in San Diego. This year MBA is adding a new focus to the conference with an emphasis on technology in the mortgage marketplace. Details and registration is available now.

Although not involving a lender, here is something that IT folks should take note of: Adobe Systems Inc. has won a First Amendment challenge to an indefinite gag order prohibiting the company from disclosing a U.S. government request for customer information stored in the cloud. In an opinion from late March that was recently unsealed and posted to the Central District of California’s website, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Mumm (“mum’s the word” only has one “m”) wrote that a notice preclusion order, or NPO, Adobe received as part of a search warrant for cloud-stored data prevented the company from notifying anyone, including the investigation’s target, about the warrant’s existence indefinitely. “The government does not contend, and has made no showing, that Adobe’s speech will threaten the investigation in perpetuity,” Mumm wrote. “Therefore, as written, the NPO manifestly goes further than necessary to protect the government’s interest.” READ MORE HERE

Reading all the documents involved in a real estate transaction can be an overwhelming task. If you manage to wade through all the legal jargon, how much of the information do you really understand? Single-handedly the largest investment most of us will ever make, the details are crucial not only to the borrower but also to all parties involved in the transaction. The misinterpretation of any one item can effectively be a game changer. You may be thinking, how so? A recent case that was litigated in the Court of Appeals is a prime example of how sticky a real estate transaction can prove to be. One listing agent was ultimately able to fight multiple owners to receive her commission. A recent case in the Sixth District Court of Appeals involved a scenario wherein a real estate agent sold a home that had 5 owners. However, the listing agreement was only signed by one owner, who added “et al” to his signature. Once the property was sold, the sellers withheld the commission from the agent, claiming that they never agreed to the terms of the listing agreement. Ta Da, let a judge decide… The lower court held that the agent was unable to collect her commission, but the decision was overturned on appeal.

Servicing news

Out of Texas comes news that Mid America Mortgage, Inc. has acquired the mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) for $2.7 billion in government loans. The portfolio includes several delinquent VA- and FHA-insured loans. “Mid America has achieved tremendous success in resolving delinquent government-insured mortgages,” said Mid America Owner and CEO Jeff Bode. “By purchasing this portfolio, and another like it, we are providing much-needed liquidity to smaller market players that might otherwise not have an outlet for their distressed servicing.” The sale was completed at the end of March, and LoanCare, Mid America’s sub-servicer, will take possession of the purchased MSRs on May 2.

Manhattan is filled with capital markets folks of all shapes and sizes, trying to figure out how to wring every basis point out of execution. Everyone is looking at the same basic bond market, and things have been very stable in that area for a while. Friday, however, we did see a slight rally of a few basis points – but hardly enough to be noticed by borrowers or loan officers. The news that garnered the most attention was the first official estimate of U.S. Q1 GDP growth. Being only up .7% it missed expectations, weighed down by weak personal consumption growth. But a measure of inflation (the core PCE deflator) was higher than expected coming in at 2.0% vs. 1.8% estimates. The 10-year note’s price improved by .125 and it ended the week yielding 2.28%.

This week’s calendar is packed with central bank decisions from the RBA, Norges Bank and of course the Fed on Wednesday. There is also plenty of first tier data in the US with PCE, auto sales, ADP, trade, factory orders and Friday’s April employment report.

Taking it day by day…Today we saw March Personal Income and Spending (+.2 and flat) along with March PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures), with March Construction Spending and April ISM Manufacturing at 10AM ET. Tuesday are some auto & truck sales figures which usually don’t impact rates. Wednesday the MBA Mortgage Index comes out, as well as the April ADP Employment Change, April ISM Services, and the May FOMC rate decision (no one is looking for any change). Thursday, we have the April Challenger job cuts, Initial Jobless Claims, March Trade Balance, Q1 Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, and March Factory Orders. We wrap up the week with April’s Employment Situation Report and a bevy of Fed officials speaking. We start the week with the 10-year at 2.29% and agency MBS prices roughly unchanged versus levels seen during much of last week.

Overheard here at the MBA conference – an elderly conversation:

Bill: “At our age, what would you rather have, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s?”

David: “Parkinson’s. Better to spill half an ounce of scotch than forget where you keep the bottle.”

Rob

(Copyright 2017 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Occasional paid job listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman.)